By JOE KAY
AP Sports Writer

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) -- Tom Brady let his final pass fly toward the
scrum of players in the end zone, hoping for an incredible
finish.



Uh-uh, Tom. Not in this city, and not in this game.



Indianapolis is a Manning town, whether it's Peyton or Eli
pulling out the wins. And the Super Bowl is suddenly the
province of the New York Giants, who have figured out how to
topple Brady and the New England Patriots in the biggest
moments.



Eli Manning led another fourth-quarter touchdown drive and won
his second Super Bowl MVP on Sunday night, leading the Giants to
a 21-17 victory that provided a pulsating finish to an NFL
season that started with turmoil and a lockout.



"It's been a wild game," said Manning, who now has one more
Super Bowl title than his older brother. "It's been a wild
season,"



A wild finish was certainly fitting.



The Giants (13-7) almost didn't make the playoffs, needing a lot
of help at 7-7 with two games left. Their defense finally came
together, and Manning gave them a chance in every game with his
penchant for comebacks - a league-record 15 touchdowns in the
fourth quarter.



Of course, his greatest career comeback was in that Super Bowl
four years ago, when the Patriots were undefeated and Manning
led a late scoring drive that included an enduring Super Bowl
moment - the incredible catch David Tyree made by trapping the
ball against his helmet.



The Patriots (15-4) had a chance to avoid more such history on
Sunday. Brady, trying to match boyhood hero Joe Montana and
Terry Bradshaw with four Super Bowl titles, had New England in
range to put it away late in the fourth quarter.



Wes Welker dropped a pass at the 20-yard line with 4 minutes
left, forcing a punt that gave the Giants another chance
trailing 17-15.



"It comes to the biggest moment of my life, and (I) don't come
up with it," said a red-eyed Welker. "It's one of those plays
I've made a thousand times."



Manning's turn for more Super Bowl magic.



He threw a spot-on 38-yard pass down the sideline to Mario
Manningham, fitting the ball perfectly between two defensive
backs barreling down on the receiver. Manningham got both feet
down before getting smacked out of bounds in front of the
Patriots' bench, a catch that was upheld on replay and reminded
the 68,658 fans at Lucas Oil Stadium - one in particular - about
that other catch four years earlier.



"In those situations, you are always looking to see who is going
to be the guy," Tyree said, in the Giants locker room.



Once Manningham came down with it, the Giants sensed things had
turned their way, just like four years earlier.



"I think they are both spectacular catches," Giants coach Tom
Coughlin said. "I think with Mario's earlier tonight, the way he
kept his feet inbounds and held onto the ball (while) going out
of bounds was a remarkable thing."



The Patriots were thinking the same thing, too.



"I thought that play they made on our sideline was a phenomenal
throw and catch," Brady said. "That got them going."



They got down to the 6-yard line with just over a minute left
and the Patriots down to one timeout. New York could have run
the clock down to a few seconds and kicked a field goal.



Patriots coach Bill Belichick did the math and decided on a
trade-off: Give up a touchdown for some time. New England pulled
up and allowed Ahmad Bradshaw to run the final 6 yards with 57
seconds left.



Once Bradshaw realized what was happening, he tried to stop at
the 1-yard line to keep the clock going but ended up falling
backward into the end zone.



Brady would get one last chance with the Giants defense bearing
down on him, as it always does. Defensive end Justin Tuck
huddled the New York defense after a touchback on the kickoff
left the ball at the 20-yard line.



"I think a lot of guys had their eyes lit up," Tuck said. "This
is what we've been working for all year, and we've got 57
seconds left to be world champs."



Brady set a Super Bowl record by completing 16 consecutive
passes earlier in the game, topping Montana's record. When he
needed several quick completions to get moving in the last
minute, he couldn't do it.



The Patriots got only as far as midfield with 5 seconds left.
Brady threw a desperation pass into the end zone, where the ball
was batted around in a scrum before falling incomplete just
beyond the reach of All-Pro tight end Rob Gronkowski, bringing
the spray of confetti from above.



"You come down to one play at the end," Brady said. "If we make
it, we're world champs. If we don't, we're wishing we were."



Brady's had a tough time against this Giants defense. During the
regular season, it pressured him into mistakes during a 24-20
New York win in Foxborough, Mass. The Patriots went on to win
their next 10, a streak that ended when Brady faced that same
defense on Sunday.



It just seems to have his number. On his first pass of the game,
Brady was pressured by Tuck in the end zone and threw the ball
to an open spot downfield to get rid of it, resulting in a
safety.



By contrast, Manning didn't make any big mistakes and, again,
was at his best under the last-minute pressure.



"He's become confident over time, kind of grew into it," said
his father, former New Orleans Saints quarterback Archie
Manning. "I always felt like you have to experience those
situations before you become confident. He's certainly had his
share."



And nobody will question anything he says again.



Manning was criticized for insisting before the season that he's
an elite quarterback. Then, with the Giants struggling, he was
overshadowed by a different Manning drama.



Peyton and the Colts were hoping to reach a Super Bowl in their
stadium. Instead, the quarterback had neck operations and the
team came apart, prompting ownership to clean house. The week
leading up to the Super Bowl was overshadowed in town by talk
about Peyton's future.



Eli insisted he wasn't bothered by sharing the spotlight. In the
fourth quarter on Sunday, he had it all to himself.



Manning was 10 of 14 for 118 yards in the final quarter with his
seventh game-winning drive of the season. Overall, he completed
30 of 40 for 296 yards with a touchdown and no interceptions,
leading the Giants to their fourth Super Bowl championship - two
behind Pittsburgh for the record.



In the end, a Manning got to hoist the silver Super Bowl trophy
in Indianapolis.



"It just feels good to win a Super Bowl," Eli said. "Doesn't
matter where you are."